Judge relates to San Benito

The judge presiding over the school finance trial underway in an Austin courtroom shared some personal testimony Wednesday while San Benito CISD Superintendent Antonio Limon took the stand to chronicle hardships in his South Texas school district.

Judge John Dietz

At one point, Limon made a reference to neighboring Kenedy County. 250th District Judge John Dietz stopped the testimony to make sure his court reporter got the spelling correct. Only one ‘n’ in Kenedy, Dietz told court reporter Della Sawvel.

“If you had received enough traffic tickets there, you would know,” Dietz added, drawing courtroom laughter.

Earlier, Dietz told Limon he routinely sings “Lonely Days and Lonely Nights” as he drives through San Benito on his way to Padre Island vacations. It’s an old Freddy Fender tune. Fender grew up in San Benito, whose water tower bears an image of the Tejano musician. Born Baldemar Huerta, Fender died in Corpus Christi in 2006.

Limon also pointed out that conservative Christian leader James Dobson, founder of “Focus on the Family,” graduated from San Benito High School.